Saturday Night Takeaway taken out by The Voice in view counts

Her BBC show The Voice beat the launch of ITV's Saturday Night Takeaway.

The talent contest drew 7.3million viewers on Saturday with a peak of 9.2m, while the lads got just 6.5m with a peak of nearly 7m.

The figures come as a major blow for Ant and Dec who recently won a National TV Award as best entertainment presenters for the 13th year in a row.

The "TV kings" had hoped to trounce The Voice with the new series of their hit evening show.

Last year when the two rivals went head to head, ITV won.

But now it seems they have a fight on their hands.

The BBC revamped The Voice this year by hiring Kylie, 45, and Kaiser Chiefs frontman Ricky Wilson, 36, as coaches to replace Jessie J, 25, and Danny O'Donoghue, 33.

“After the live recording on Saturday, Ant was snapped in the boozer toasting the show with a pint and a cigarette”

They also signed up Emma Willis, 37, and Marvyn Humes, 28, as hosts to take over from Holly Willoughby, 33, and former BBC DJ Reggie Yates, 30.

Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, both 38, pulled out all the stops for their first show of their series.

They braved a scary zip wire stunt live on air, got Little Ant and Dec to meet One Direction at The BRITs, and enticed This Morning hosts Eamonn Holmes, 54, and Ruth Langsford, 53, to help prank some wedding planners.

But they failed to beat The Voice's final round of blind auditions.

Last week Dec appeared confident, saying: "We're not worried about the ratings.

"Takeaway has a huge fan base and is incredibly popular."

After the live recording on Saturday, Ant was snapped in the boozer toasting the show with a pint and a cigarette.

Insiders claim the Geordies' fortunes may change as next week The Voice begins the "battles rounds", during which ratings have dropped in the past.